Governor for steam-engines



(No Model.)

. LL BELL 82; W. H. .P. CREIGHTON.

GOVBRNOR FOR %TEAM ENGNES.

- No.`4' 18,6o2. Patented Dec. 31,\ 1889.

UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE..

LOUIS BELL AND WILLIAM H. P. CREIGHTON, OF LAFAYETTE, INDIANA.

GOVERNOR FOR STEAM-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,602, dated December31, 1889.

Application filed April 15, 1889. Serial No. 307,:381. (No model.)

..TO all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS BELL and VVIL- LIAM H. l?. CREIGHTON, ofLafayette, in the county of Tippecanoe and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Governors forSteam-Engines;

and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompa- .nyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

Our invention relates to an improvement in that class of govern orsparticularly adapted for application to engines which drive dynamo orother electric generating machines, and which, as is well known, requirean extremely sensitive governor in order that the current or potentialof the current generated may be constant under all conditions, theobjects of the invention being to effectually control .the speed of theengine in such manner that the current generated may be kept sensiblyconstant by changing` the speed of the generator, and hence itselectro-motive force, in accordance with the demands of the externalcircuit. The same method of control we also propose to apply to keepingthe electro-motive force of the generator constant by varying its speedin such manner as to counteract the magnetic reactions produced by avarying current through said generator, so that racing or any harmfulincrease or`decrease of speed under varying conditions of load, due tothe interruption, resistance, or abnornal increase of the line-current,will be entirely obviated.

To these ends the invention consists, primarily, in connecting the valveand eccentric to move in nnison in each direction and controlling theeXtent of movement of said valve by means of the current generated,whereby the cut-off is changed in a'ccordance with the electricaldemands of the system before the change in load acts on the engine,preventing it from racing or slowing down except as the'electricalcondition demands it.

The invention consists, secondly, in Shifting the valve-eccentric tovary the movement of the valve by means of the current generated.

'It consists, thirdly, in a novel form of eccentric-shifting mechanismadapted to be `moved positivelyin one direction or the other by anabnornal change in the line-current; and, finally, it consists incertain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangementsof parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out particularlyin the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional and diagrammaticView of a governing mechanism constructed in accordance with ourinvention, and Fig. 2 is a detail section,

' A indicates the crank-shaft of the engine or a shaft driven thereby,and wheel keyed or otherwise rigidly connected thereto. Bearings f e areformed .in the flanges F E of the drum B, and in said bearings arejournaled screw-rods D, having friction-wheels m on their inner ends,for a purpose to be presently explained` and suitable nuts on the outerends to retain them in proper position, and in the face of the drum areforned corresponding slots or guideways s, through which project arms orelongated nuts g, engaging the screws D at one end and having the linksh secured to the opp'osite ends. The eccentric M, with which thevalve-rod engages, is rigidly mounted on the links h and adapted to beshifted the'reby with relation to the shaft A, being for this purposeformed with a large aperture in the center, as will be readilyunderstood. With this construction it will be seen at a glance that whenthe screws D are turned the eccentric will be shifted, and it is a merematter of computation and experiment to determine what positions theparts should occupy when the engine is Working under normal conditions.

Now, in order to shitt the eccentric by abnornal changes in theline-current, we provide a collar L, loosely mounted on the shatt A andkept from rotation by the forked lever b, mounted on a fixed pivot at C,said collar having fianges L' H, eXtending outward on each side of thefriction-wheels m and adapted to engage all of said wheelssimultaneously to insure the movement anduniform rotation of all thescrews to Shift the eccentric. Theouter end of the lever bis controlledby the electromagnets R v, which, through the medium of B a drum' or ICOthe armature a, serve to move it in one direction or the other, causingthe collar to shft laterally and one of the disk L' H to come in contactwith the friction-Wheels, which latter, being eaused to revolve aroundthe shaft, are rotated by contact with the disks, as just indicated, thewheels and disks, it desired, being provided With friction-surtaees. Thecurrent passing through the magnets R v, which may be the whole or apart of the main-line current, preferably the latter, as shown, iscontrolled by the solenoid N, which in the preferred construction islocated in the same branch with the magnets, the latter being arrangedin said branch in parallel with each other and in series, respectively,with the resistances P p. Any variation of the current passing throughthe solenoid N varies the resistances P 19 through the medium of thearmature b' and lever b destroying the normal equilibrium of the currentpassing through the magnets and causing the lever b to move aecordingly,which movement shitts the collar L into contact with the wheels, asbefore stated, and retains it until the equilibrium of the current isre-established. If desired, the solenoid may operate to move the lever bin but one direction and the spring t relied upon to give the reversemovement.

WVe are aware that prior to our invention governors have beeneonstructed for steanengines controlled by the line-current generated bya generator driven by the engine, and we do not wish to be understood asclaiming such broad idea; but

WVhat we do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an engine-governor, the combination, with the engine-valve and ashittin g eccentric for moving the same, of an electro-magnetcontrolling the position of said eccentric, substantially as described.

2. Iu an engine-governor, the combination, with the engine-valve and ashifting eccentric for moving said valve, of a movableeccentric-adjusting mechanisn and an electromagnet controlled by theline-current for noving said nechanism to adjust the eccentric,substantially as described.

3. In a stean-engine governor, the combination, with the eceentricmounted on a movable support and the wheels controllin g said support,of the longitudinally-movable collar engaging said wheels and the leverfor moving said collar, substantially as described.

4. In a steam-engine governor, the combination, with the eecentricmounted on novable supports and a screw-shaft engaging said supports tomove the eccentric, having a frietion-wheel thereon, of alongitudinally-movable collar engaging said wheel to rotate the' screwand shift the eccentric.

5. In a steam-engine governor, the combination, with the eccentricmounted on movable supports and screw-shafts mounted in guides rigidlyconnected to the engine-shatt and having friction-wh eels at their innerends, ot a lon gitudin allymovahle collar mounted on the engine-shaftand engaging said wheels to rotate the screw-shafts and shitt theeccentric and the lever for moving said eocentric, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a stean-engine governor, the combinat-ion, with the eccentricmounted on inovable supports, the drum on the engine-shaft, having thescrew-shafts engaging the eccentric-supports journaled therein, theguides in said drum for the supports, and the frietion-wheels on thescrew-shafts, of the longitudinally-movable collar on the engine-shaft,having the disks engaging the frietion-wheels on opposite sides, and thelever for shifting said collar, substantially as described.

7. In a steam-engine governor, the combination, with the eccentricmounted on inovable supports, the drum on the engine-shaft, having thetwo flanges and slots, the screwshatts journaled in said fianges andengaging the supports prej ecting through the slots, and thefriction-wheels on the screwshafts, of the longitudinally-novablecollarnounted loosely on the engine-shaft, the disks on said collarprojecting on each side of the trictionwheels, and the lever forshifting said collar to bring one or the other of said disks intocontact with the triction-wheels, substantially as described.

S. In a steam-engine governor, the combinaton,with the eccentric mountedon inovable supports and screw-shatts mounted in guides rigidlyconnected to the engine-shaft and having friction-wheels on the innerends, of a longitudinally-movable collar nounted on the engine-sha'ftand having the disks engaging said wheels, a lever for moving saidcollar, and an electro-magnet for moving said lever, substantially asand tor the purpose specified. r

9. The combination, with a steam-engine having its valve moved by ashitting eccentric and an electrical generator driven by said engine, ofan electro-magnet in the circuit of said generator, having an armaturecontrolling the shifting of the engine-eccentric, whereby the cut-off ofthe valve is regulated by the current passing on the line, substantiallyas described.

LOUIS BELL. XV. H. P. CREIGHTON.

lVitnesses:

MICHAEL GOLDEN, W. P. TURNER.

IOO

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